BSP claims victory in UP panchayat polls

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which was unable to win a single seat in the 2014 general elections, has claimed that candidates backed by the party have won a majority of seats in the Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls.

The Samajwadi Party (SP), the BJP and the Congress have reportedly suffered a severe setback, while Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen-backed candidate won for the first time. The results of the polls for the district panchayat chiefs and Block Development Council started pouring in from Monday.

The results also showed that a large number of independents registered impressive wins in the regions which were considered to be the strongholds of the main political parties.

In a big jolt to the BJP, the party-supported nominee suffered a humiliating defeat in the panchayat polls in Prime minister Narendra Modi's adopted village of Jayapur in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi.

BJP-backed Rinku Singh lost to BSP supported candidate Ramesh Tewari alias Guddu in Jayapur.

The Congress, which received a severe drubbing in last year's general elections in the state, suffered a humiliating defeat in the Nehru-Gandhi bastions of Raebareli and Amethi. In SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s adopted village of Tamoli in his Lok Sabha constituency of Azamgarh.